The initiative to link habitat and parks across political borders, to
form large Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs), has gained
momentum in Africa and the world. TFCAs hold many advantages,
one of them being the restoration of habitat connectivity in order to
conserve ecosystem functioning. A feasibility study in 2002 highlighted
22 sites as potential TFCAs in southern Africa, and the
Peace Parks Foundation is facilitating the implementation of eight
of them. This paper describes a methodological framework with
which to map remaining large, natural habitat fragments (or
remnants) in southern Africa, the distribution, shape and size of
which will provide the foundation and stakeholders with information
on possible coarse-scale landscape linkages. This framework,
which maps remnants, was designed to be transparent, systematic
and dynamic to facilitate easy updating as TFCA projects mature, or
updated data become available. This is intended to be the first in a
series of studies towards developing an integrated, systematic
framework for TFCA planning at a sub-continental scale. It does not
aim to prioritize remnants or linkages.